


What's the use of a recipe if you don't know what it makes

by Aupple (GiveUpResistance)



Series: Swan Queen Week Winter 2015 [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, roommate au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 04:17:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3235949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GiveUpResistance/pseuds/Aupple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Directions: Place one Regina Mills in an apartment and sublet the spare room to an Emma Swan for some extra cash. Add some friendly, genuine urges to be a good roommate and awkward romantic feelings. Accidentally drop in a cat named Han Solo and a toddler named Henry.<br/>Stir.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What's the use of a recipe if you don't know what it makes

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2 of Swan Queen Week 2015 - Roommate AU  
> I hope you enjoy it!

Emma is temping at a law firm, when one of the associates, Kathryn, overhears her complaining about the fact that her roommate, Mary Margaret, is moving out and getting married. (Like, seriously. Who does that, and at age twenty one, too.)

“I have a friend who’s looking for someone to sublet her spare room to, if you want me to hook you guys up.”

It’s an unfortunate choice of words, because Kathryn is smoking hot for a lawyer, and Emma has serious doubts that she would be friends with anyone who isn’t some similar degree of hotness. Also, she’s probably rich, and Emma definitely can’t afford to live somewhere expensive.

When she points out to Kathryn that she isn’t exactly flush with funds, she just waves her hand and says, “Regina is having trouble finding someone that she can stand for more than ten minutes.”

Great.

Emma takes her up on the offer anyway, and less than a week later finds herself outside a nice looking block of apartments in an expensive part of town. When she goes to press the level button in the elevator, she finds that Regina’s flat is on the top floor. And when she gets into the corridor, her heart sinks to see that there’s only three doors, which means that each of them are of a larger than average size.

She almosts turns around, but she’s expected, so she knocks on the door with a certain amount of apprehension.

The door is pulled open after only a few seconds, and Emma is staring into the most incredible brown eyes that she’s ever seen.

“Yes?” the red lips down a few inches that are even more distracting than the eyes are, say.

“Oh, I’m Emma Swan. You must be Regina Mills.”

“I am.”

Despite the frosty reception, Emma can’t help noticing that Regina is _way_ hotter than she expected. Like, holy shit, I-want-to-get-on-my-knees-and-worship-you kind of hot. Maybe even because of the frosty reception. Maybe she has a thing for bitchy brunettes.

Anyway, Regina is still looking at her like she’s a preacher shouting in the street about how gays are going to sink the earth into hell, and with a certain amount of distaste at her jeans, which makes Emma think that maybe dressing as she usually did was a bad idea.

“Um, I’m working for Kathryn? She said that you were looking for a roommate?”

“I realised,” Regina said dryly, finally stepping back from the door. “However, she did say that you usually looked quite presentable.”

“Well, I figured that I might as well show up as I usually am, seeing as this is to find out if we’d do well living together,” Emma replies. “Can I come in, or are you going to let first impressions send away yet another potentially paying roommate?”

Regina smiles for the first time, if only slightly, and motions her inside.

Inside is even more scary-nice, with a large entrance way, separate kitchen to living room, two bedrooms, each with its own connecting bathroom, and a study. And all of it is decorated in a restrained but expensive fashion.

“What on earth do you do for a living?” Emma asks as they walk back to the kitchen.

“I’m a social worker, but-”

“Nuh-uh. Social workers do not make enough to afford this. I was in the foster system most of my life, most of them as poor as shit.”

“ _But_ ,” Regina continues, “My parents bought this for me when I made it clear that I was going to live off my ‘poor as shit’ salary.”

“Jesus,” Emma says. “You guys must be loaded, because this place is…” she waves her hands around, unable to properly express her feelings about the apartment. “Why do you want a roommate, then, if you’re not having to pay rent?”

Regina smiles, a slow smirk that spreads across her mouth and makes Emma’s throat dry up. Scary hot. Emma thinks that she probably has a thing for danger after all. “Why not make a little extra money when I have all this free space?”

“Devious,” Emma says, unable to resist grinning back. “I like it.”

“Thank you,” Regina says. “So, you’re a temp?”

“Yeah, but that’s not permanent. I’ve got a job pretty much confirmed, just waiting for the current holder to resign.”

“What job is that?”

“Uh, a bailbondsperson?” Emma says the words with a degree of uncertainty. People have reacted badly before.

Regina must notice, because she says, “I don’t mind what job you have, Miss Swan, as long as you pay rent and that your income isn’t illegal. Now, tell me what bad habits you have so that I can sue you for breach of contract if you lie about them.”

Emma moves in three weeks later.

Emma is a naturally competitive person, if she’s going to be quite honest. And seeing as Mary Margaret mothered her from the moment that they moved in together, this time she is determined to be an excellent roommate.

Only, well, Regina is kind of a perfectionist anyway, and so when, on the first night, Emma offers to do the dishes for the ‘welcome to the house’ meal of incredibly delicious lasagna, it transpires that Regina has already done everything but the lasagna dish, which still contains the leftovers, and the plates and cutlery they have just used, which can go in the dishwasher.

Emma feels useless.

Which leads to her cooking tacos the next evening, while Regina is still at work, cleaning up, and putting all the things to put them together in separate containers so that they can be easily refrigerated.

Proud, she sends a snapchat of the set up to Mary Margaret, who sends back a text saying, ‘ _Good work, Em. You’re making the one dish that you can actually cook on your second night_.’

She wishes that she could rebut that, but it’s true. She should probably get Mary Margaret to teach her how to cook.

Luckily, Regina seems to enjoy dinner, and even takes some of the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Emma has never really been one for cleaning.

Plain being neat - sure. Keeping your things to yourself is a good strategy if you want them to stay in your possession when you live in a group home, and she never really had that much stuff anyway.

But Regina likes her house being clean, and vacuuming the common living areas and cleaning her bathroom is one way to keep ahead of Regina in her mind.

It’s really kind of stupid, her attitude to all this, but it’s how she is. Can’t change.

She’s running after a bail jumper in uncomfortable heels when she hears her phone ringing inside her purse. Ignoring it, she manages to gain on the guy a bit, but it barely seems to cut off before it starts again, so she digs it out and answers.

“Where are you?” Regina’s voice sounds in her ear, back to frosty.

“I’m-” It’s annoying to talk and run, “working.”

“Why didn’t you let me know? I made dinner. It’s awfully rude not to let me know that you weren’t going to be home.”

“Jesus, Regina, can’t this wait? I’ll- hold on,” she says, and drops the phone back in her purse, a burst of speed letting her slam the guy into a wall and cuff him.

Regina is yelling at her through the phone about rude roommates and how Emma is totally not living with her any more.

“Okay, I caught the guy. And I’m sorry, I forgot that I hadn’t warned you that I would have some late nights.”

“Well, thank you for telling me, Miss Swan,” Regina says sarcastically.

“Aww, don’t be like that. Should I get some cherry pie on the way home? From the shop that you said has the closest pastry to homemade?”

“If you like,” Regina replies, and hangs up.

Emma sighed and put her phone away, dragging the bail jumper back through the alleyways in the direction of her car.

“Girlfriend trouble?” the guy asks.

“Roommate.”

They settle into a routine eventually, and they get along better than Emma had hoped.

Of course, that’s smoothed along by the fact that Mary Margaret is giving her baking lessons, so if she messes up then she can bribe Regina with brownies or mocha cookies. The only other way to get out of her bad books is to go to an orchard out of town and buy her some apples with which Regina can make her famous apple pie.

It’s a good life.

…

At least until Emma finds a tiny kitten in a damp alleyway, shielded from the cold by its dead mother and siblings.

She is feeding the tiny bundle with an eyedropper on the couch in their living room when Regina comes home.

“What are you doing?” her roommate asks, not really looking, and engrossed in a book.

“Uh…” Emma hasn’t actually thought about what Regina will think. “I found a cat?”

Regina freezes. “You found a cat.”

“Yes?”

“So you brought it home.” She sounds decidedly unimpressed.

“Yes?”

“And why did you think that that could ever be a good idea?”

“Because it was tiny and alone and its family were dead?” She attempts to make puppy dog eyes at Regina, but is simply stared down, so she pulls the blanket that she has the kitten wrapped in away from its head and turns it towards Regina.

It miaows pitifully.

“You may keep it for now, but as soon as we can find another home for it, it will go.”

They never find another home for it.

Emma names him Han Solo.

The last thing the Emma expects on that fateful evening is to find Regina walking up and down the length of the kitchen, a baby in her arms.

The first thing she can think of to say is, “This isn’t payback for Han, is it?” and immediately regrets the lame joke when Regina shoots her a tired look.

“His foster parents died in a car accident. I was called in and he’s only a year old, he was crying so much but he quieted down when I held him so I brought him home, I’ll find him a home but-”

Regina’s eyes are red and she sounds upset and Emma’s heart aches for the little boy, so she holds out her arms embraces them both. “It’s okay,” she says as she pulls away. “I understand. But you should pass him to me, go call Ashley, ask her to come up here, then eat something and go rest. You look kind of shitty.”

She gets a sharp frown for her trouble, but then Regina slides the boy into Emma’s arms, wipes her eyes, and picks up the phone.

“Oh, Regina?” Emma asks quietly, very conscious of the dark haired toddler resting in her embrace. “What’s his name?”

“Henry,” Regina says. “His name is Henry.”

Ashley, from a couple of floors down, is a godsend. Her own little girl, Alex, is two, and since she’s recently graduated to a big girl bed, they’ve still got the old cot, and are happy to lend it to them for as long as they need it.

Sean, Ashley’s husband, disassembles it and then puts it back together in Regina’s office, which is right between each of their bedrooms, and they’re happy to give Emma some tips on taking care of Henry for the time being.

He wakes up when Alexandra bangs her head on the table she’s been playing under and begins to cry, and Emma’s afraid that he’s going to join in the wailing, but he just stares at her with huge, solemn eyes.

Emma wakes up on the middle of the night when she hears noises in the next room, and she gets up, thinking that Henry is awake.

But it’s just Regina, who’s standing over the crib.

“Did he wake up?” Emma whispers, and Regina looks around, surprised, and tiptoes back to the door.

“No, I just wanted to check that he was okay. Which he is.”

Regina looks like hell, but she’s still beautiful, and Emma kind of hates how much she can’t hate her, even when she brings home a baby and looks hot when her eyes have massive bags underneath them and she has a sickly pallor and she’s always better than Emma at being a person and makes her love her.

“I could sleep in the study, if that would stop you from worrying.”

“Oh, no,” Regina says. “I can-”

“You need all the sleep you can get,” Emma retorts, and pushes her towards her bedroom.

Regina goes, surprisingly, turning round once as she reaches the door to say, “Thanks, Emma.”

In the morning, Emma’s back is aching because a yoga mat is so not comfortable, but Regina looks refreshed and businesslike as she makes various calls and makes them both coffee, Henry seated on the couch with Regina’s iPad.

“What time do you need to be in at work?” Regina asks, between bites of toast.

“I don’t think we have any ‘clients’ for the moment, so if there’s any paperwork i need to do then I can get it sent over. I can take care of him.”

It’s not until the next day that Henry finds his voice, and he repeats ‘Mama’ and ‘Dada’ over and over again, looking around wonderingly when Emma can’t distract him.

They move the cot into Regina’s bedroom, and the sniffles aren’t coming from Henry, so Emma climbs into her bed and holds her.

“He has no one, Emma. No one but us.”

Emma has a job the evening after, so they rope in Kathryn to help, and while Regina’s still at work and she’s about to head out the door, she asks Regina’s best friend to find out if Regina wants to keep Henry.

“Keep Henry?”

Emma nods. “She was crying last night. Said that he has nobody but us, and-” She wants to talk about how the boy tugs at her heart, and that she doesn’t think she could stand sending him back into the foster system, but she doesn’t have the words, and it’s Regina that should know, really, so she says, “She’s right, he doesn’t have anyone else,” and leaves.

A week later, she’s reading to Henry from a massive book of fairytales that Regina dug up from somewhere, when the toddler gets bored and decides to crawl away. She gets down on her belly and army crawls along beside him, which makes him giggle, a sound that warms her heart.

He races her to Regina’s study, and the brunette rolls her eyes at them when Emma pushes open the door, but gets up from her chair and picks Henry up. “I see that I’m the only adult in this apartment.”

Emma pushes herself with a fake groan and rubs at her elbows, pouting. She opens her mouth to make some witty remark, but forgets it when she sees the papers spread over Regina’s desk.

“Is this a foster application? Henry-” She bites her lip as she looks down at the boy who’s making grabbing motions at Regina’s earring. “I mean, if he’s going to a good home then-”

“Emma,” Regina interrupts. “It’s my application. I’m going to foster Henry. Adopt him.”

She feels her jaw drop. “You are?”

“If you want to leave, then-”

“That’s wonderful, Regina!” It’s perfect, and she’s glad that her friend realised it, even if it will completely change their lives. “You’re going to be an amazing mom, Henry will be so happy.”

“You think so? And- will you stay?”

Emma frowns. “Well, of course, I’m not going to leave you to fend for yourself- I mean, if you don’t want me to, then I can leave, but Henry is important and if I can I want to give him everything, and you-”

Regina embraces her, and Henry coos happily as he manages to grab bunches of their hair.

“I thought you might not want to, um, raise a kid, I mean that’s really long term and of course you might have other stuff and people, but-”

“I’ll stick around as long as you want me to, Regina.”

They can’t move apart because of Henry’s grip on their hair, and Emma spends a long minute looking into Regina’s eyes.

Neither of them have actually been entirely clear, exactly, but Emma’s pretty sure she’s just been asked to co-parent a one year old, and that’s good enough for her.

And, well, it’s Regina. There’s nothing that she wouldn’t do.


End file.
